Halo Movie Paramount? By LostToys @ 05:32 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

Variety is reporting that Paramount Studios is the last remaining production company shopping for the Halo movie license. Sony, whose PlayStation is a direct competitor to Microsoft's Xbox, was never a possibility; Microsoft's rivalry with Apple made Disney a difficult fit, because Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the Mouse's largest individ-ual shareholder and a Disney board member. And New Line is still en-gaged in a dispute with "Halo" producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh over "The Lord of the Rings" proceeds. Though Par-based DreamWorks head Stacey Snider ran Universal when the original "Halo" deal was made and brought Jackson and Walsh aboard as producers, WB was the studio most intrigued by "Halo." But WB and its financing partners are coming off a tough year, and they've so far balked at the deal terms proposed by the "Halo" team, sources said. Variety also notes that the producers could look for independent financing through private investors, including Microsoft itself.

PS3 Supported Media List Revealed By LostToys @ 04:34 PM :: Sony Playstation :: Comment Now

IGN has the skinny on what hard media, audio and video formats the PS3 will work with out of box. Supported disc media: # BD-ROM # BD-R # BD-RE # DVD-ROM # DVD-R # DVD-RW # DVD+R # DVD+RW # CD-ROM # CD-R # CD-RW # Super Audio CD Supported software media: VIDEO # MPEG-1 # MPEG-2 (PS,TS) # H.264/MEPG-4 AVC # MPEG-4 SP MUSIC # ATRAC (.oma .msa .aa3) # AAC (.3gp .mp4) # MP3 (.mp3) # WAV (.wav) IMAGES # JPEG # GIF # PNG # TIFF # BMP

Sony's Net Profits Fall 94% This Quarter Amid Battery Recall and Poor Sales By LostToys @ 04:01 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

Times online is reporting that Sony's net profit this quarter plunged 94.1 per cent to 1.7 billion yen. The embattled Japanese group revealed an operating loss of 20.8 billion yen (£93 million) in the quarter, down from an operating profit of 74.6 billion yen a year earlier. Variety accentuates a loss of profit in the gaming devision. Videogame revenue was down 21% at $1.4 billion. Operating income swung from a $70 million profit to a $369 million loss. That was due mainly to research and development costs for the PS3, as combined profits from the PS2 and PSP remained roughly unchanged from last year.

Nintendo Posts Double Profits: Money Hats for All By LostToys @ 03:47 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

GamesIndustry is reporting that Nintendo's profits over the last 6 months has doubled. Profits for the six month period ending September 30 stood at YEN 54.35 billion (EUR 361 million) - up from YEN 36.6 billion (EUR 243 million) a year previously. Revenues were up by almost 70 per cent to reach YEN 298.8 billion (EUR 1.98 billion, while operating profit more than tripled to YEN 67.11 billion (EUR 446 million). Nintendo attributed the rise to increase global sales of the DS handheld; 10.9 million units were sold during first half of the year, up from 3.57 million units during the same period a year ago.

Microsoft Makes Mad Money: Xbox Almost Profitable By LostToys @ 03:43 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

Yahoo News is reporting on the quarterly profit of Microsoft. Of particular interest is the Xbox division news. "The company also said it had sold 6 million Xbox 360 video game consoles since the launch last November, and losses at its entertainment and devices division shrank to $96 million from $173 million a year ago and $414 million the previous quarter. "We're progressively lowering the manufacturing costs of the console," Liddell said. "So even for the ones we do sell, we are in a better shape from a loss-per-console perspective."

Lik-Sang Clarifies Points: Sony 'Admits' to PSP Purchasing By LostToys @ 03:31 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

Lik-Sang has replied to Sony' accusations that Lik-Sang did not lose any money over the court High Court ruling. Joystiq has the skinny. * Although Lik-sang did not end up contesting the London suit, the retailer spent significant time and money arguing over the London High Court's jurisdiction before the case came to court. * Now that the London case has been decided, Lik-sang has been ordered to pay Sony's legal fees of 100,000 GBP ($187,140) by Nov. 1. * The ongoing cost of the Hong Kong case is forcing Lik-Sang to pay for hundreds of hours of legal work at roughly 380 GBP ($711) per hour, not including clerks and assistants. And in similar news, SCEE has admitted to the purchasing of Japanese PSP hardware through Lik-Sang, according to the Daily Tech . Sony admits its directors have bought PSPs from Lik-Sang, but are defending their actions by saying they the products were bought in order to check the nature of the goods that were being sold.

	PS3 Makes Babies Cry, Literally By LostToys @ 03:29 PM :: Sony Playstation :: Comment Now
So it seems that the first national commercial ad for Sony's PLAYSTATION 3 has been released, and it makes babies cry!

Halo 3 Magazine Scans: New Features Announced By LostToys @ 01:08 PM :: Xbox 360: Action :: Comment Now

This is going to be a two parter. First, Xbox Portugal has some rather low quality magazine scans of Halo 3. Second, Joystiq has summarized the new features of Halo 3 from a post at Xbox 360 Fanboy Weapons * Spiker - a new Brute weapon * Spartan Laser - a laser that tears vehicles apart * Nail Grenade - sticks into walls, sends nails everywhere Vehicles * Mongoose - the ATV that was cut from Halo 2; seats two, but no weapons; designed for recon New Feature * "Man Cannon" - what it sounds like; launches you into the air (think: jump pads from Unreal, Quake Arena) Controls * Bumpers are used to reload the right and left weapons independently * X-button has a "secret" function Misc. * Secondary weapon is now visible when not in use (slung over shoulder) Collector's Edition * "Legendary Edition" - box is a replica of Master Chief's helmet, includes 4-disc set: o Disc one: game o Disc two: documentaries and developer commentary o Disc three: spin-off material ( Red vs. Blue, Spark of Life, etc.) o Disc four: all cut scenes from Halo 1-3 in HD o Bonus: sneak peek of Halo movie will be included on one of the discs (maybe)

	Morning Brief - New Server Edition By Kyle 'Pezman' Peschel @ 12:00 AM :: In-House: Morning Brief :: Comment Now
With some luck we'll be upgrading the GameGossip server this week. If you stop by the URL and we're not around check back a bit later. I'm sure it will be a nightmare to get all these scripts to work properly again. After the upgrade I'll be able to start working on the site again, as it stands now things were simply too far out of date to begin repairs before the new server was online.